DUBAI // Business may be booming for shisha cafes but that could end under tough new anti-tobacco laws.
Guidelines will ban smoking in all buildings, as well as introduce restrictions on how tobacco products are sold in shops.
Restaurants and cafes will have to rethink where customers can light up under the Ministry of Health plan.
Shisha sales make up about 40 per cent of trade at Set Widad in Dubai Internet City. Operations manager Tarek Lababidi, 27, has applied for a licence to comply with the new regulations but said the changes will be hard to halt a 150-year tradition.
“Shisha is very popular here,” he said. “It is related to the culture and is something that has been enjoyed for a long time.
“Restaurants have always provided smoking and non-smoking areas. Licences will not be given to everyone who applies as they want to reduce shisha smoking.”
Mr Lababidi, who moved here from Syria two and a half years ago, would like to see an annual fee paid by proprietors to the government to help reduce the number of shisha outlets.
“This would benefit the government as well,” he said.
Licences are granted only if certain criteria are met, including minimum floor space and distance from schools, mosques and living areas.
It is hoped the changes will also improve safety in residential areas by reducing fire risk.
Smoker Isabelle Durand, who moved from France to Dubai eight years ago with her two young children, backs the measures.
“Attitudes are changing towards smoking here,” she said. “Encouraging people to smoke is silly and the industry makes billions of dollars.
“Any steps taken to reduce the health risk is a good thing.”
The sale, promotion or advertising of tobacco products will now come under tight restrictions. And cafes and restaurants will no longer be allowed to provide ashtrays for customers. No-smoking signs must also be displayed.
Businesses will be advised to provide a comment box for public feedback on the changes and those backing a national campaign against smoking can register their support on the Ministry of Health website.
Anti-smoking measures will apply to all public buildings, as well as company vehicles.
Ms Durand, however, thinks educating people on the dangers of smoking, whether cigarettes, shisha or medwakh, is even more important.
“Education on the health implications is more important than prohibiting smoking,” she said.
“It is bizarre that e-cigarettes are banned in the UAE when people can smoke tobacco in some restaurants and shisha pipes around children.”
Samer Abdin quit smoking in May. He supports a tobacco advertising ban but said putting up the price of cigarettes would help to deter smoking in the UAE even further.
“If a packet of cigarettes in Dubai cost Dh40, people would soon think twice about smoking,” he said, adding: “An outdoor smoking area is fine but it can be annoying if the tables are close together, particularly as I’m an ex-smoker.
“An advertising ban is a done deal everywhere else in the world so it is right they are stopping it here.”
nwebster@thenational.ae
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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Pieces of Her
Stars: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, David Wenham, Omari Hardwick
Director: Minkie Spiro
Rating:2/5
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Company%20Profile
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5